Matheus Hamutenya
Keetmanshoop-Deputy Minister of Works and Transport James Sankwasa says Namibians and especially the youth should ask themselves critical questions as Namibia marks 27 years of independence.
Speaking at the belated independence celebrations at Grunau in the //Kharas Region last Saturday, Sankwasa said many Namibians remain ignorant of how far Namibia has come since attaining independence in 1990, adding that many only see negative developments and are more interested in causing chaos and disturbing peace than building the nation.
He reminded Namibians, and particularly the youth, that the peace they currently enjoy is a result of the sweat, sacrifice and blood of others who fought the colonial regime so that Namibia can be free today.
He then called on the youth to interrogate, as they celebrate independence, what it means to be free and what they are free from, noting that it seems many of them do not know how hard things were in the past.
“Ask yourself, if you are a born-free, what are you free from, and who freed you? Young generations take things for granted and that is why the youth sometimes lose direction and try to cause chaos,” he said.
He pleaded with fellow Namibians not to take for granted the peace and stability enjoyed in the country, which he said did not come on a silver platter, but by fighting and the blood shed by thousands of Namibians.
Sankwasa said it is sad that there are those that do not appreciate the peace and unity Namibians have enjoyed over the years, indicating that some people are too blind and need spectacles to see the tangible developments that the government has brought about since independence in 1990.
He thus urged Namibians to refrain from tendencies that will disrupt the peace in the country, saying without peace there cannot be any development, and therefore peace cannot be compromised. “Where you have no unity, there is no stability and where there is no stability there is no prosperity,” he cautioned.
He also warned Namibians against tribalism, saying the country cannot afford to go back to the past where people identified each other on the basis of their tribes, as this is not contrary to the spirit of nation-building.